Vampire Tech?

In the future devices might feed on your bloodCellphones can at times seem alive especially to younger generations. Love for the device might have you panicking when its battery runs low and the screen yells, “critically low!” The possibility of it dying might even have you running around campus trying to find an outlet. Good thing the artist Naomi Kizhner a graduate from Hadassah College in Israel created a series of body jewelry in her grad project that would solve the problem.Called “Energy Addicts,” Kizhner designed the collection to harness electricity within your body and convert it into energy. Once injected, the jewelry connects through a cable to theoretically charge electronic devices. “The Blood Bridge is a two headed syringe that allows a bypass for the blood,” Kizhner explains in an email about one of her pieces. “It actually works within the principal of a hydro-turbine, but instead of water it's your blood.”When told of the new devices, tech addicted CCNY students had alot of say. Some were nervous. Iffath Choudhury an education major at CCNY said, “I rather have the portable charger than put a needle through my skin to charge my phone," she says. “I don’t want to be in pain to charge it; my friends and social life can wait.”Kizhner explains that she created the jewelry with the purpose of inviting others to rethink their attachment to energy, and rethink society’s propensity to over consume. “I wanted to provoke a discussion since in our modern life we are literally addicted to electricity,” Kizhner says. “I wanted to provoke the thought about how far we will go in order to "feed" our addiction in a world of declining resources.”What about safety? “They seem unnecessary, troublesome, and may even be painful,” says Zuhair Reza. “No one needs to go to that extent to keep devices working. What if this method adversely affects our bodies?”Simply mentioning needles and blood in the same sentence might make many shudder. But Kira Rakova, a CCNY student majoring in international affairs, worries companies might actually sign-up to the idea, “My only concern is that other individuals might see it as a progressive thing,” she says. “People might exploit this and create a profitable product.”With her work, however, Kizhner wants others to consider the direction society veers. Over consumption can only lead to depletion of resources. “My creation is a suggestion for a possible future,” she says. “I would like people to think about their future.”